As you know, our third grade standardized test (MStep) has began this week. The students completed the language arts portion of the test on Monday. There was a lot of reading and writing that came with this test. The students were asked to read passages that were several paragraphs in length and then give extensive responses about their understanding of the text. We were so proud of our third graders. They stayed focused, determined, and optimistic throughout the entire test. We really felt that they gave it their all and we can't ask for anything more! We have been asked the question several times of when the test results will be given to us. We are not sure when to expect the results. In the past we haven't received them until the fall of the following school year. Although we hope that it might be sooner, we at least don't expect them until the summer.
Reading: The third graders have completed their journey of uncovering the complexities of informational reading. They have created keynotes documenting their learning and have uploaded these projects onto their SeeSaw accounts. We will now be combining our social studies instruction with our reading instruction as we begin learning how to research new topics.
Writing: This week the students have been working on the revising process as they have been revising their informational books. We have worked on "fact checking" as we have used resources such as books, technology, and dictionaries to check the facts that we have included in our books. We also have worked more on paragraphing and adding various text features such as maps and graphs to our books to make them more interesting to read.
Math: We have started our geometry unit of study (chapter 6). The students have learned about lines, rays, and line segments and how these are put together to make various shapes. We then have learned how to name shapes such as parallelograms, rhombus, and trapezoids. Finally we have talked about finding the characteristics of a shape such as the number of sides, types of angles, and sets of parallel sides to help us group shapes into categories. It seems that the students have enjoyed thinking about math in a new way...with a few less numbers:)
Science: This week we learned about the concept of refraction. We watched light beams bend as they traveled from one material to another. We also used prisms in class and tried to see a rainbow. We finished the week by looking at optical illusions and discussing why because of light our brain is "tricked" to see something that isn't really there.
As you can see it has been a busy and fun week of learning in room 12!
Reading: The third graders have completed their journey of uncovering the complexities of informational reading. They have created keynotes documenting their learning and have uploaded these projects onto their SeeSaw accounts. We will now be combining our social studies instruction with our reading instruction as we begin learning how to research new topics.
Writing: This week the students have been working on the revising process as they have been revising their informational books. We have worked on "fact checking" as we have used resources such as books, technology, and dictionaries to check the facts that we have included in our books. We also have worked more on paragraphing and adding various text features such as maps and graphs to our books to make them more interesting to read.
Math: We have started our geometry unit of study (chapter 6). The students have learned about lines, rays, and line segments and how these are put together to make various shapes. We then have learned how to name shapes such as parallelograms, rhombus, and trapezoids. Finally we have talked about finding the characteristics of a shape such as the number of sides, types of angles, and sets of parallel sides to help us group shapes into categories. It seems that the students have enjoyed thinking about math in a new way...with a few less numbers:)
Science: This week we learned about the concept of refraction. We watched light beams bend as they traveled from one material to another. We also used prisms in class and tried to see a rainbow. We finished the week by looking at optical illusions and discussing why because of light our brain is "tricked" to see something that isn't really there.
As you can see it has been a busy and fun week of learning in room 12!